Heartbeat
by GoodVun12
Summary: All this time, Star and Marco had no idea that the magical adventures they were part of would lead one of them to a devastating situation. Some Starco (StarXMarco)


Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

The heart monitor beeped steady, continuously announcing to the room that the person in the hospital bed was, despite appearances, still alive and soldiering on.

The room was a typical Earth hospital room. Dreary beige walls, a long, rectangle window that open no further than two inches and have a blind that simply fails to stop light coming through in every way but obscures any landscape that happens to be on the other side, in this case being the viaduct where a girl had spent the night while on the run from the police due to destroying a cop car. There was a single, solid, mechanical looking bed in the centre and a mint green armchair with holes in the fabric next to it. In the armchair, was a girl. A girl who was not from Earth. This girl was a princess from a different dimension. Tears ran down her face as she perched on the edge of the chair, reaching out and holding the hand of the boy in the bed. The boy was of Earth and, if you had asked about him just a year earlier, would have been described as a "safe kid". Marco Diaz slept quietly as Star Butterfly sobbed and gripped her friend's hand as if Marco would have floated away had she let go.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

The machine was still steady.

Marco had been admitted into the hospital after fainting in the middle of class. After a few tests a diagnosis was returned.

Cancer. Terminal. Four weeks at most, it had been three.

Doctors had said that the cause was over-exposure to some sort of radiation they had never seen before. Star's magic, although not affecting Star due to her Mewman biology, had given lethal doses of Mewni radiation to Marco, whose human biology couldn't defend itself. Marco was now bald, frail and a shadow of his former self. Star couldn't help but think back to all the times she used magic on Marco. The time she tried to heal his broken arm and accidentally turned his arm into an evil tentacle, the time where she applied magic to his head to get a beard to grow to impress Jackie. Star's stomach churned at the thought that these seemingly small spells had caused Marco to be ill beyond repair.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Marco stirred and Star sat up straight still clinging to his hand. With her free hand, Star wiped her eyes.

"Morning Marco!" said Star with a painted-on smile and her eyes on the heart monitor, "Sleep well?".

Marco struggled to sit up and instead resigned himself to being propped up slightly on his forearms. Star wanted to help but as much as it killed her inside to see him struggle, he would have felt pitied if she had and she knew it.

"Hey Star, slept as good as can be I suppose. Get any sleep?" Marco asked.

"Yeah totally, totally, totally" Star lied.

Marco looked at her with a disappointed shake of his head which changed into a slight smile. "You really are a weird girl, you need to sleep sometime".

Star stared at the floor and mumbled "I like watching you sleep, it's the only time you look peaceful anymore...". She stopped, horrified at what she had just said, waiting for Marco to make a comment.

He didn't.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

The room was silent except for that stupid beeping. However, that beeping meant that Marco was alive and Star cherished every beep that the machine spat out.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Star could listen to it for the rest of their lives.

"Star" Marco began, "When I'm gone.."

"NO" yelled Star. She was on her feet with her eyes closed in frustration. "We are not having this conversation. You aren't going anywhere". Tears again began to stream down her face.

"Star..." began Marco once more.

"I don't want to hear it Marco!" Star said with a crack in her voice. "We haven't done half of the things I wanted to do with you, haven't showed you half of what I wanted to show you, I haven't told you how I... about how I really...". She trailed off and looked at Marco, into his eyes for the first time in a few days. It had felt like forever.

"Star..." Marco began for the third time.

"This is my fault Marco. I did this. If you had never met me, you wouldn't be here dying! If I had just listened to you once about not using my magic as much as I did. If I..." Star was on her knees, the grip on Marco's hand was so tight she may have never let go.

"Star please listen!" Marco finally got out. "This isn't your fault. Everything that has happened isn't your fault".

They locked eyes.

Beep.

Beep. Beep.

Beep.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Beep.

Star stood up again. The heart monitor was showing something was happening, it was too fast. The doctors warned her about this. This was the end. Marco started to cough. Blood shot out of his mouth and onto his hospital gown. The coughing grew more violent.

Star screamed for help.

"HELP. PLEASE, ANYONE HELP!"

Mr and Mrs Diaz ran into the room at the sound, followed by a doctor and a team of nurses. The doctor examined Marco and gave him an injection to ease his suffering. The doctor announced that this was it and to say goodbye to Marco while they can. Star left the room in tears while his parents said goodbye to their baby boy.

In the corridor, Star sat on the floor remembering all at once every moment they had spent together, every time they had hugged, every time she had wanted to tell him that she didn't love him as a best friend but much more than that. Mr Diaz entered the corridor.

"Star, please come and say goodbye to our boy"

Star struggled to her feet and made the seemingly endless walk to Marco's side. She looked at Marco and saw the boy she loved. Weak, dying and in pain. The words escaped her. As she reached to hug him for the last time she was struck by an idea. An idea that she was surprised she hadn't thought of sooner. Magic caused this, magic can solve it.

"Mr and Mrs Diaz, I need to get Marco someone who can help. Someone who knows magic better than I do and will know a cure. My mother!" Star said with a suprising a mouth of enthusiasm.

Before anything else was said, Star reached for her dimensional scissors and cut a rift back to Mewni Castle Throne room where her mother, the Queen, was sat.

"Star?" A surprised Queen Moon asked.

"No time! Come on Mom! I need your help" said Star and pulled Queen Moon from Mewni to Earth before she could even think.

"Mom I need you to cure Marco of his cancer. It's going to kill Marco any minute unless you do something" explained Star, tears building in her eyes.

"Star, I can't" said The Queen in a defeated voice.

"If anyone can it's you mom, please!" Star said, this time louder, tears falling fast.

"Star, please listen. I can't do anything about..." began Queen Moon.

"WHY NOT!" yelled Star, loud enough to stop everyone in their tracks, tears flowing and soaking her face.

There was complete silence. Star looked around at her mom, then Mr and Mrs Diaz.

Complete and utter silence.

Then it hit her. Star couldn't hear anything. No arguing from her mother, no words to calm her...

...no heartbeat.

She turned to look at Marco. He was still. Her best friend had died. Star broke completely with her mother and the Diaz's following her to the floor and holding each other. Marco Diaz was dead and no magic could save him now. Star had never even got to say goodbye.

After finding the strength to stand, Star walked to Marco's side. She examined his face. The deep brown eyes she had imagined staring into forever now bloodshot and lifeless.

"I love you Marco" admitted Star, "I should have told you sooner".

Star turned around. She buried her face in her mothers chest.

"Let's go home Mom" said Star through tears.

Mrs Diaz tapped Star's shoulder and reached out to give something familiar to Star.

"Here my dear, it's Marco's hoody. I'm sure he'd want you to have it. He cared for you very much" said Mrs Diaz.

Star found this too much. She took the hoody, opened a new dimensional rift to her bedroom in Mewni castle and ran through it, throwing herself and the hoody onto the bed. She stained the pillow with her tears.

Later that evening, Star sat up on her bed and reached out for the red hoody, her last reminder of her best friend and true love. She put it on and for a second it felt like Marco was hugging her once more. The feel and smell of the hoody made it seem he was really there. Star reached into the pockets to pull it closer into her when she felt something that was distinctly made of paper inside the pocket. She pulled the item out and it was an envelope. It was addressed to Star.

Star opened the letter carefully and prepared herself for the worst.

The letter read:

 _"Dear Star,_

 _I'm not well and I know that. The doctors say it's cancer and it's terminal. The look on you face when they said it was radiation caused by your magic was worse than any pain I'm experiencing._

 _This is not your fault._

 _This time I have spent with you has been the best time of my life. We have fought monsters, saved the town, saved Mewni, adventures harder than anyone else, and not only did I get the coolest best friend in any dimension but I fell in love with a beautiful, weird, funny princess from a different world. You changed my life for the better, thank you._

 _I love you Star and I wouldn't change anything for the world. Remember our happy moments and don't focus on our bad times._

 _Mewni will have the most amazing Queen in the future and I will always be there to help you._

 _I love you,_

 _Marco (mess up twin and best friend)"_

Star looked at the letter and smiled through her tears.

"Stupid safe kid, I'll never forget you".

The moon shone in the Mewni sky. Tomorrow would be a new day but she would never forget Marco Diaz.


End file.
